Each year as the calendar turns to November, some quiet depression sets in for fans of Halloween as they watch the season immediately shift to Christmas, with store decor and online sales suddenly featuring Santa Claus and elves.

But, in recent years there’s been an alternative rising in popularity: a horned beast from Alpine European folklore named Krampus, who despite a complicated reputation, has come to represent a creepy, fun and less commercialized form of holiday cheer.

“I’m standing there on Nov. 1 saying ‘wait a minute, I’m not done. I still want to do all this fun, spooky stuff,'” said Courtney Schlachter, owner of Quiet City Books in Lewiston.

For the past four years, Schlachter has hosted “Holiday Photos with Krampus” at her bookstore, which has become a popular attraction. She said Halloween is her favorite holiday, which likely sparked her initial interest in Krampus, but the annual event stemmed from simply wanting to do something different.

“You can go anywhere and get photos with Santa,” she said. “A lot of families have that tradition. I thought photos with Krampus was a fun twist on it. It’s a fun holiday thing to do that doesn’t feel so commercialized.”

She said she’s been surprised and amused with how popular the event has been, and by how many people continue to use the photos as their Christmas cards. There also remain some naysayers who argue that Krampus’ look and story as the bad cop to Santa’s good cop isn’t family friendly, but those seem to be dwindling.

According to folklore, Krampus supposedly accompanies Saint Nicholas on visits to children during the night of Dec. 5, on the eve of the Feast of St. Nicholas, and as Saint Nicholas rewards well-behaved children with gifts, Krampus punishes badly behaved ones, swatting them with birch branches, or worse.

In countries such as Germany, Austria, Slovakia and more, parades and celebrations on Dec. 5, or Krampusnacht, are immensely popular, and that popularity has begun to find its way into American culture.

Through the years that Schlachter has been hosting the event at her bookstore, the popularity of Krampus has only grown.

Richard Sheridan, who founded the Krampus Society of New England in 2013, which hosts annual events and promotes others, has seen it first hand.

A recent Krampus pub crawl hosted by the group that organizers thought might attract a few dozen people instead saw a few hundred. Police told them next time they’d need a parade permit.

Sheridan said celebrating Krampus didn’t seem to take off in the United States until recently, but believes there are multiple reasons for it. He said the popularity of Halloween and horror-themed characters and movies cannot be overstated, and there are fewer people practicing organized religion.

“A lot of Christmas traditions we have are pagan in origin, and maybe people are becoming more aware of that,” he said, adding that in the process, perhaps people are stumbling on folk characters like Krampus.

Sheridan believes there could be something to the idea that maybe “people are just sick of Christmas.”

“You start seeing Christmas stuff before Halloween. Krampus is not this big corporate monster brought to you by Coca-Cola,” he said.

Like Schlachter’s annual event, the Krampus Society of New England began as a way to celebrate the holiday season in a different way. Sheridan, 55, said he began seeing groups pop up around the country, perhaps scaring up some controversy, and he was inspired to start his own group.

The group, based in Providence, Rhode Island, throws a Krampus ball every year, but also promotes other Krampus-related events throughout New England. Leading up to Krampusnacht on Dec. 5, their social media page shared events ranging from a Krampusfest in Brighton, Massachusetts, to a Krampusnacht dance in Biddeford.

On the weekend of Nov. 15, the Maine Renaissance Fair hosted “Twisted Tidings” in Sanford, billed as an oddities holiday show complete with appearances by Krampus.

Sheridan said even a few years ago, he would still receive threatening emails or even death threats over his group’s celebration of Krampus. (He considers threats made against him from the Westboro Baptist Church “a badge of honor.”)

The religious component aside, Sheridan said he was attracted to Krampus and other folk characters both due to the scary, theatrical element, and because there is a real and lasting history behind it.

Although the purpose of Krampus was to scare children into behaving, he said, its origins stemmed from the fact that people living in these cold climates faced tremendous pressure to harvest crops and prepare for the winter months. If anyone, including children, shirked their duties around the homestead or farm, families might not have enough food to get through the winter, he said. So, do your work kid, or Krampus is coming.

“What these figures represented was just how dangerous winter was to these people in northern climates,” he said.

Still, there are signs that the increased popularity of Krampus is leading to some of the same commercialization that has drawn people away from traditional Christmas. The 2015 horror comedy film “Krampus” starring Adam Scott likely helped. But, a quick online search also reveals hundreds of products and gifts bearing the horned beast: candles, ornaments, socks, throw pillows, stuffed animals and more.

Elected officials are even on board, even with the chance of pushback.

Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline, who received some criticism last year for promoting Lewiston’s event, said the annual Krampus event has become an economic development tool for the city’s “beloved independent bookstore” and also “become part of Lewiston’s holiday lore.”

“Lewiston is a welcoming city, a place where all people and cultures can flourish, and this absolutely includes Krampus,” he said.